


(they call it) puppy love

by dizzy



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: M/M, sfw pet play
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-28
Updated: 2018-04-28
Packaged: 2019-04-29 05:15:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14465817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dizzy/pseuds/dizzy
Summary: Dan wants to try something new, and Phil wants to do what it takes to give Dan what he needs.





	(they call it) puppy love

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the phandom reverse bang! [art link coming soon]
> 
> Thank you to my amazing beta reader, [Shoe](https://twitter.com/BeginningWithI) and thanks to [charlottekath](http://charlottekath.tumblr.com) for helping me with the research!

"If I asked you to do something strange, would you?" Dan asks. 

Phil puts his book down and looks over at Dan. "Do you want to lick my feet?"

Dan's mouth opens and he makes an emphatically confused gesture at Phil. "What? Do I want to _lick_ your fucking _feet_?" 

"I mean," Phil says. "It's fine, if you do." 

"No! I do not want to lick your fucking feet!" Dan says, voice raised slightly. 

Phil gives him an offended look. "Why not? My feet are very nice. They don't smell at all." 

"I don't - your feet are fine, but that's not - jesus." Dan laughs. "I hate you." 

Phil grins. "I love you, too. Now what weird thing do you want me to do?" 

Dan looks down at his phone and types something. Two seconds later, a link shows up on Phil's screen. "Just read it." 

*

Dan sends more links over the next week. 

There's so much more equipment than Phil imagined. A lot of it looks black and leather and intimidating, but he trusts Dan to have chosen what's best so he places each order to Dan's specifications. 

He's surprised by the tail, at how the base of it is a plug not unlike other toys they already have in that special box under the bed. Dan says they sell clip on ones but he'd rather have the plug. It's one of the only actual conversations they have, when Phil comes to him to ask if Dan's sure that's the one he wants. 

"I like how these move better," Dan says.

"But it's not..." Phil struggles to figure out how to word it without crossing a boundary. "It's a butt plug, Dan. How's that not about sex? It's just... it's pretty similar to... other stuff we do, you know. Is the other stuff not... good? Have you not wanted any of it to be about sex? I don't want to... I dunno, pressure you... "

He knows his voice conveys how helpless and clueless he feels. 

Dan looks frustrated for a moment. "No, Phil You're not. I like all the stuff we do. And if I ever had a problem with anything we did in bed, trust me, I'd tell you. But there are times when we're fooling around or after we've done like, you know, the 'weird furry shit'-" He uses air quotes around the words. "-when I start thinking about how nice it would be to just... be like that. Sometimes." 

"Okay," Phil says. He's still not entirely sure he feels like he knows what's going on, but he does know to trust Dan and he knows that if this is something Dan wants, he’s going to give it his best shot. 

 

_**training** _

Discomfort prickles in Phil's stomach the first time Dan says he wants to be trained. 

It’s been months since Dan first sent Phil that email. Phil’s felt like he’s had a handle on it, like he’s come to a tentative comprehension of what this means for Dan and how to fit into the role he needs to occupy. They’ve played around a few times; fetch with a toy and Phil feeding Dan and silly bouts of play wrestling that left them both flushed and laughing. 

But training seems like more. It seems… serious. 

"I don't need to train you," Phil says. "You already know what to do." 

Dan levels him a look that lets Phil know that was exactly the wrong thing to say. "I just," Phil says. "I don't want to feel like you're - like I'm treating you as though you're beneath me." 

"It's not about me being beneath you," Dan says. "It's about wanting to feel like things in my head are simple for a little while. Like life and happiness are as easy as you telling me what to do, and me doing it." 

"I don't-" Phil starts to say. _Understand. I don't understand._

Because he doesn't. Phil doesn't get how to be outside of his own head like that. He doesn't know what it feels like to be able to tune the whole world out and slip into this other place in his head. 

But Dan does, and it makes Dan feel good, so maybe Phil doesn't need to understand the how as long as he keeps focused on the why: for Dan. 

* 

The collar goes on first. 

Dan sinks into a calmer place as soon as Phil closes the heavy buckle on the back of the collar. He slips one finger in between Dan's neck and the leather to make sure there's enough room, and then tugs the tiniest bit just because Dan likes that. 

The gloves and knee pads are next. They're for comfort as much as anything else. It's been a journey to figure out what works best for Dan, and Phil hadn't liked the way the first few times Dan would end the sessions with bruises on his knees and aching wrists from holding his own weight up. 

Dan’s done most of his research on his own, spending long hours into the night reading product descriptions and reviews, and in the end had emailed Phil a long list of things for Phil to pick from that met Dan’s comfort and aesthetic preferences. 

Phil remembers feeling completely out of his depth staring at tab after tab, but now looking at all them laid out in front of them and the expression on Dan’s face it’s starting to come together more in his mind. 

The next two things are Dan's favorites; the ears and the tail. The ears are a soft brown the same shade of his hair, fluffy and floppy. The tail is a thicker material that Dan likes for how it feels like he can properly wag it by wiggling his butt back and forth. 

The final thing is the mask. They've tried out a few to see what Dan felt like fit him best, both physically and aesthetically. Phil didn't think he'd like not being able to see Dan's face through this, but he finds that with Dan's eyes as his only cue as to what Dan is trying to communicate to him, it's actually easier to step into the scene. Communication has never been any kind of weakness of theirs, but Phil’s fine tuned his ability to read Dan’s entire mood just by the expression in his eyes. 

* 

"Sit and stay," Phil says, and waits until Dan sits back on his haunches before he walks over to the kitchen and opens a cabinet. 

He pulls out a ceramic treat jar that holds Dan's training treats; sweets shaped like little bones. Dan lets out a woof at the sight. 

"Hush," Phil says, laughing. The neighbors already think they're weird enough without adding disturbing human-like barks at top Dan volume to it. 

He walks back over. Dan's still sitting perfectly still, and he shuffles his tail in a tiny little wag while he waits for his praise. 

"Good boy," Phil says, reaching out to scritch Dan on the head between his ears. 

Dan rubs his head up into the touch and then rares back to lick at Phil's hand. 

"Ew!" Phil says, but he's laughing as he wipes damp fingers on his trousers. "I know you're excited, but behave. Now let’s start easy - can you lie down for me?" 

Dan drops onto his belly briefly then pops back up, moving with agility despite the bulky knee pads. 

"Perfect!" Phil says, pulling a sweet out of the treat jar. He offers it to Dan, who takes it from his fingertips with only his mouth. "Now can you beg?" 

Dan sits up on his knees, mitted hands hanging like paws in front of his chest. As much as there's a part of him that still struggles sometimes with some internalized idea of how wrong or silly this is, he mostly just feels a swell of pride at how well Dan listens. 

They go through a few more easy training steps before Phil decides to change it up a bit. "Okay, downward dog now." 

Dan tilts his head up at Phil. Phil can't see his expression but he's pretty sure it's something along the lines of 'fuck _off_.' 

"Dan," Phil says, voice slightly firmer. He picks up a treat and holds it. "Are you going to obey?" 

Dan scoots his knees back and lets his shoulders drop down. He stumbles the first time, relearning balance since he's not using human feet. On the second try he gets it and holds the position for a few seconds. 

"Good job! What a good boy!" Phil uses his most encouraging voice. Dan's tail wags just a bit and he sits back, whuffing expectantly until Phil lowers the treat down to his muzzle. 

 

_**grooming** _

Dan's been running circles all day, both literally and figuratively. 

He's awake at half seven, which makes Phil think he hasn't slept at all. Their new floors don't squeak like the old ones did but Phil still feels the bed dip on Dan's side and he hears the shuffling of Dan putting pajamas on and he even hears Dan's footsteps up the stairs just outside their bedroom.

He thinks about following Dan upstairs and seeing what's wrong, but he knows sometimes Dan just needs time to sort himself out so he decides to claim a couple more hours of sleep for himself. 

* 

When he does wake up and treads barefoot upstairs, he finds Dan mid pace. 

There's a moment where Dan looks at him with a mixture of something startled and something guilty in his face. Phil decides to ignore it, and gives Dan a sleepy smile hello before heading straight for the kettle to make himself a morning cup of coffee. 

*

Dan hasn't asked him for anything today. Dan's barely even spoken. Phil gets it; some days are just bad days for Dan. This seems more like the anxious kind of bad than the depressed kind of bad, though Phil isn't honestly sure that one is better than the other. 

All he knows is that he wants to do something to make Dan feel better. And Dan hasn't _asked_ , but Phil decides maybe it's time he starts to take some initiative. 

So he waits until the kettle's boiled and he's stirred the instant grounds into the steaming mug and then he turns to Dan and says, "Go get your collar."

*

Phil sits on the sofa with Dan kneeling on the floor beside him. He pats one knee and says to Dan, "Give me your paw." 

Dan lifts one hand and puts it on Phil's leg. Dan still doesn't know what they're doing. Phil's had the bottle of polish kept in the same wrapping the shop sent it over in for a week now, waiting until there was time in their hectic lives to take a break and indulge in this. 

They don't truly have time now. In just over an hour they've got to be on a train to town. But it'll help, he thinks. It'll make Dan feel better - so they'll make time for it. 

"Sit still for me," Phil reminds Dan in a gentle voice as he sits. "You know how to be good, don't you? Otherwise we'll make a mess of this. Well, I'll make a mess of it anyway, but I'm at least trying harder not to this time."

Dan whines low in his throat and nods his head as Phil keeps up a steady monologue. He doesn't even try to answer verbally, but Phil thinks Dan likes it when Phil narrates everything he's doing. 

He reaches into the bag and pulls out the bottle. He can see Dan's eyes go curious in a pleased way. It's a silver shimmering shade of polish from a well known brand, but made specifically for pups. Dan hasn't seen it yet, so Phil turns the bottle and reads out, "Colors for nails for those with tails." 

Dan lets out a happy whuffing noise and shuffles his body forward, this time in an excited restlessness. He's talked about sparkles for his nails for a few weeks now. Now he'll get to enjoy them all throughout the day. 

Phil tuts in his throat. "What did I say now? You need to sit and stay." 

It takes force but Dan stills himself again. The only thing he can't hold back are the continuous low, eager whines from the back of his throat. 

They continue on, Phil holding Dan's hand carefully in his own and applying the polish in slow strokes. It's quick drying, meant for rambunctious dogs that won't sit still for long, but it's perfect for their tight schedule today. 

He manages to finish in twenty minutes, meticulously cleaning up every stroke of the brush that goes astray with a cotton bud. Even with the extra care it's still far from a professional job, but the fact that it's a clear coat with sparkles means his lack of coordination is mostly unnoticeable. 

By the time he pronounces them done, Phil's own voice quiet and satisfied, Dan's drifted into a peaceful state. He's still vocalizing occasionally but there's a look in his eyes that seems far off in a good way. 

Phil reaches out and touches gently under Dan's chin, lifting his head up. "You've done so well for me," he says, voice low and rumbling. "But we've got to leave soon." 

Dan's chin trembles just a bit and his eyes get slightly watery, but he doesn't actually cry. He leans forward and licks Phil's hand messily instead. 

* 

Dan disappears into the bedroom. He puts his own collar away, and gets dressed in jeans with rips at the knee and a black shirt with silvery threads. "They match," he says, holding his hand up against his chest. "And by the way, you're never allowed to butcher my nails again, now that I know you can do it properly." 

"Hey!" Phil protests. "I didn't butcher them before! I was just being... creative with my nail polish placement technique." 

"Creative my ass," Dan grumbles, shrugging his coat on and heading for door. His shoulders have lost that tense set completely and his voice is loose and playful. 

"I love you," Phil says happily. 

Dan looks at him, smiling even as he rolls his eyes. "Whatever. We have time to stop for a coffee right?" 

 

_**hand feeding** _

It's been the longest sort of day. 

Phil isn't at all surprised when Dan disappears into their bedroom and comes back out with his collar, handing it to Phil with a wordless needy, vulnerable expression. 

"Of course," Phil says, reaching out to sooth his fingers through Dan's hair. He lets Dan kneel and he puts the collar on, doing his normal check for tightness. "Do you want the rest?" 

Dan knows what he means without Phil having to clarify; the mitts and kneepads, the ears and tail and mask. He shakes his head. 

Phil's relieved; if Dan needed the whole scenario set then Phil would do that for him, but he's just as exhausted as Dan is. He really just wants to get their dinner ordered and sit down on the sofa and find something mindless to watch. 

So that's exactly what he does. 

* 

He puts on an episode of Buffy, because he's a man of predictable pattern and they've got some newer things lined up in their watch queue on Netflix but Phil's never actually asked Dan how he'd feel about watching television together when Dan's in his puppy place. So he puts on something they've both seen a dozen times or more and rests his laptop on the arm of the sofa so he can still access it to order their takeaway, then he pats the sofa beside him. "Up here, boy." 

Dan looks up from where he's been kneeling on the floor for the past ten minutes, just waiting for some kind of cue from Phil. Phil pats the spot again and Dan scrambles up, using his hands and his feet since they're more free than they usually are. 

He kneels by Phil, expression slightly lost and confused, the way it always is when he's in this headspace. Phil pats his thigh in another nonverbal cue and Dan instantly drops his weight down, flopping his head against Phil's leg and using it as a pillow. 

* 

It takes forty minutes for their takeaway to arrive, long enough for Dan to fall into a light sleep. He tenses all over at the buzzer, making a whining sound in his throat as he's forced into a state of wakefulness. 

The door buzzer goes again and Phil has to shift Dan's head off his lap. "I'll be right back, love," he says, leaning down to give Dan a quick kiss on his forehead. 

He comes back with two bags of their dinner. "Are you hungry, boy?" Phil asks. 

Dan's curled up in the spot Phil had been inhabiting. He nods and blinks a few times. 

Phil's already considered his options here, picking something that would adapt to Dan wanting to be himself again or Dan wanting to stay a pup. "Go fetch your pillow," he says. 

Dan hops off the sofa, walking on human legs down the stairs. They learned through trial error that Dan can go up them on all fours just fine, but going down them just results in bruises and whining. He comes back a moment later with a pillow in a special puppy paw print pillow case. He puts it down by Phil's feet and kneels. 

Phil pulls the table in closer to him, at an angle so Dan's still fine to stay where he's at, and opens the takeaway containers. Dan lets out a happy noise when he sees the sushi rolls. Phil pops open the second container and finds spring rolls. No extra rice or noodles this time, only things that he can feed to Dan in easy bites. 

When Dan leans in to sniff, Phil makes a warning tut. "Doggos don't eat off plates, now do they?" Phil asks. "Not even cute ones like you." 

Dan sits back and sulks, though his eyes don't leave Phil's fingers. 

"Fine, then." Phil skips the chopsticks altogether and picks up a piece of sushi, dunking it lightly in one of the sauces he knows Dan likes best. He holds it over Dan's mouth and says, "Take nicely, please." 

Dan drops his mouth open and lets Phil place the bite on his tongue. He sighs happily as he chews, and Phil takes the moment to feed himself a bite as well. 

It continues on that way through the first roll, then Phil stops and picks up a spring roll. He takes half of it in one big bite, then holds the other half out to Dan who makes a show of sniffing it before he decides it's acceptable enough to gobble from Phil's fingertips. "You silly pup," Phil says. "I know you know you like those, don't play like you don't." 

Dan's expression is the facial equivalent of a shrug, but he whines and noses at the box with the second spring roll until Phil splits that one between them too. 

* 

He goes to make himself an evening coffee, grudgingly pulling out the pot of decaf instant from the cabinet as a concession to the fact that they probably should try to be in bed by midnight. 

Dan follows him, and bumps his head against Phil's leg until Phil realizes he's probably thirsty. He pulls down Dan's special dog bowl and fills it with water, then puts it on the floor. The sounds of Dan lapping messily at it are almost soothing by now, background noise as he waits for the kettle. 

It only strikes him then how nice this is, not as an offhand thing he does because Dan asked him but because there's something lovely about existing with Dan in an almost simplistic, distilled down form of their normal life. 

All that's expected of him in moments like this is to take care of Dan, to provide Dan with a basic set of needs. Food, water, love, affection, stimulation. 

There's nothing he enjoys more than getting into an intense debate with Dan or sharing their weird shower thoughts together or planning out a rich, complex future. 

But this - 

This is satisfying in a different way. 

He feels a warm pressure against his leg, and looks down at where Dan is resting there with his body leaned against Phil's calf. He reaches down and sinks his fingers into Dan's hair and murmurs, "My good boy." 

 

_**bath time** _

The bubbles in the bath come up past Dan's shoulders. Phil's glad they got a tub this big. He and Dan make use of it for the two of them on a regular basis, naked skin overlapping in a way that's pleasant and often the intention.

But tonight isn't a shared bath. Tonight is just Dan, who came home in a funk and needed some pampering - the special kind of pampering. Not candles and soft music, but bright lights and bubble bath in his special bottle and a towel for after that Dan called ridiculous at first but secretly loves. It wraps around his shoulders and covers his head and has a hood with floppy terry cloth ears on it. 

Dan likes the towel, and Phil likes how Dan looks in it. It's one of those unguarded moments that he tucks away with a secret pride, because no one else in the world gets to see Dan like that. 

Or like this, really - ridiculous and completely relaxed, enjoying himself in the bath with a carefree kind of joy. 

It's a contagious feeling. Phil scoops some bubbles up on the tip of his finger and swipes them over Dan's nose. 

Dan sputters and looks startled for a second, then scrunches his face up like he can chase the bubbles with his nose if tries really hard. 

"Silly," Phil says, and then draws bubble eyebrows onto him as well. Dan ducks his whole head under the water to chase the ticklish feeling of it away, and when his head pops back up he shakes it wildly and sends water droplets flying. 

"Ugh!" Phil says, trying to duck out of the way. It's useless; the water goes everywhere, leaving darkened spots of dampness on his t-shirt. "Now you're just being naughty, aren't you? Does that mean it's time to get out of the bath?" 

Dan rolls around in the tub, sloshing water over the rim. Phil's glad he's not wearing socks, and that the towel he put down while the water was running is absorbent enough to stop the floor from being slick and wet. 

"Okay, okay." Phil laughs and reaches for the tap. He runs the water warm again and then pulls the removable shower head down off the wall. "Sit up, lets rinse these bubbles off." 

Dan groans - an uncharacteristically human sound for the mood. Phil can sympathize. It's the worst part of any kind of bath in soapy water, where you've got to rinse with parts of you cold and drying. He tries to make it as brief as possible and when Dan steps out of the tub onto the floor Phil is ready with his oversized, ridiculous puppy towel. 

* 

Dan doesn't put clothes back on after the bath. 

There's no reason for him to, really. The towel is big enough that he can flop onto his back on the bed and roll around and the duvet doesn't get wet at all, and it's not as though they have anywhere to be. 

"Hmm, I can't possibly imagine what you want..." Phil says, picking up his phone to see if they've had any missed calls or texts while they were in the bath. It's late evening, an hour or so before they'd normally have dinner, but he likes to keep an eye on little things to keep the morning inbox sessions from being too time consuming. He sees one message he can reply to quickly and taps out his response while Dan gets more and more impatient, whining deep in the back of his throat. 

He looks absolutely put out when Phil glances up. It's hard for Phil not to smile. "Oh, fine," he says, and puts his phone back down. 

* 

Dan's not asleep, but he looks like he might be from the way his eyes are shut and the way his breathing is soft and calm and steady. He looks beautiful like this, the lines of worry and frustration gone from his face. 

It's nice. They've curled up together, Dan naked except for the towel only half on him now. His legs are draped over Phil's lap but his long body is still spread out, head resting on Phil's shoulder while Phil's hand rubs wide circles against Dan's stomach. He stops rubbing occasionally to stroke, caress, drag his fingers in long lines over the skin. Every few strokes he strays upwards too, scratching with an almost non-existent pressure across Dan's sternum then back down. 

It's one of the more intimate things they do together. Back in the beginning, it'd been hard for Phil to imagine this - laying with Dan naked on his lap and it not being about sex. But it's not - it's that thread of something deeper between them, something about total trust and vulnerability, about contact in a way that's physical and mental and emotional and deeply, deeply comforting. 

* 

Phil's mind is swimming somewhere in the middle of a dream about purple trees and his year three maths teacher when Dan's voice pulls him back to reality. "Hey," Dan's saying softly, right in his ear. "Wake up." 

"No," Phil says, mumbling and refusing to open his eyes. 

He feels Dan's hand in his hair. "We fell asleep." 

"Oh." Phil remembers what they'd been doing. He turns onto his back and yawns, arms going taut over his head and then grunting at the pleasant stretch. "What time is it?" 

"Late. Come on, move your ass, I want to get under the duvet. It's fucking cold." Dan's tone doesn't match his words or the way he snuggles up to Phil. The towel is gone and his hair is long since dried into the fluffy mess it tends to be, Phil can tell that Dan’s still naked. 

Good, his sleepy brain thinks. Naked Dan is the best Dan. 

They manage to get underneath the blanket without actually moving too much. Phil's limbs feel heavy still and it's autopilot to wrap his arms around Dan and tuck his head down and in close against Dan's shoulder. "Set the alarm?" 

"Already did," Dan says. His hand finds Phil's, draped over Dan's stomach, and tugs it up some. "I'll get up first and make breakfast." 

“Make me a coffee too,” Phil mumbles. 

“Fuck off,” Dan mumbles back, bringing Phil’s hand up to his mouth and nipping at his fingers. 

“Bad pup,” Phil giggles, mouth so close to Dan’s skin that the heat of his breath feels humid there. He tries playfully to tug his fingers away but Dan won’t let him so he gives up trying. 

Dan will make him coffee in the morning and it’ll be the unspoken thank you that is not uncommon after nights like this. 

Phil doesn’t need to be thanked, and Dan knows he doesn’t expect it. There's no score keeping, no chart of who's done more for the other in the span or a week or a month. But the balance between them is respect and appreciation and if Dan wants show that appreciation with a coffee and toast in the morning, well… Phil does have the _best_ boy, after all.


End file.
